"Catcher Ready?" (Download PDF)
Well, it has been 10 days since we last gathered as a community. In those 10 days, the 10 Days of Repentance and introspection in between Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur, I had quite an experience. Some might call it an epiphany, a meeting with God. Others might say, I just figured it all out. I know what you are thinking, “He is a Rabbi. It happened here in the sanctuary in deep meditation during the hours of prayer he spent in this room all alone.” You might be thinking that it came in the intimacy of the newly rededicated Barnett Chapel Home of the Neshama Center. You could guess that it happened in the social hall during our mitzvah fair in the midst of 100s of people signing up to be a part of our Year of 613 Mitzvot. In each of those cases, you would be wrong.
You see, I found God in the great outdoors of Morgantown, WV at our JCC Emma Kaufmann Camp. I was there last Shabbat, Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Return, with 40 of our teens from Temple Sinai on a retreat called ‘Sinai Under the Stars’. The retreat was run by the board of our Senior Youth Group, PARTY, led by our Director of Informal Education, Jackie Braslawsce. We were joined by Assistant Superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools David May Stein, Master Teacher and Teen Leader Extraordinaire Tracy Tuchin, PARTY Jr. Youth Group Advisor Jesse Rosenthal and College Freshman Temple Sinai-trained Sam Tuchin.
It was Shabbat morning when we decided to postpone morning services so that we could take advantage of the break in the rain by being outside. The rain started 10 minutes later and came down in buckets. Despite that, we were committed to our task. While other Jews around the world were deep in prayer in hopes of repentance sitting in warm, dry sanctuaries, with siddurim in their hands, we were in God’s sanctuary in the woods, careful of every step so as not to fall, oblivious to the rain after we were soaked through and through. On that Sabbath of Return, life hung in the balance for us. There was a ravine in the woods that stretched 100 yards across and plummeted 100 feet down. There was a cargo net ladder that towered 30 feet high, a wet 20 foot log that needed to be crossed 30 feet above the ground and a zip line, a one inch thick metal cable that spanned the ravine. Like a reality show but even more so, each of us was to cross over the ravine hopeful that all the knots would hold. Jackie and David helped each person strap on the harness and the very special ropes with the secure knots that would serve as her lifeline as she zipped across the ravine.
Eli Gerlernter, PARTY President, and I were sent to the other side of the ravine, to a slippery wooden platform a five minute walk away, where the zip line ends. We were supposed to be the catchers. That’s right, as each person finished his zip across, we were tasked with catching them, unhooking them from the cable and making sure that not one of them nor either of us fell into the ravine. It wasn’t easy. Our feet slipped on the wet leaves. The ladder and cable were cold. Neither of us went to school for this. Despite the twenty-seven years that separate us in age, Eli and I worked as equals on a lifesaving team.
Each and every time another person was ready to zip, we heard the following question yelled from the other side of the ravine. (If you were there with me in the woods, I want to you to ask the question now.) “CATCHER READY?” I responded with an exclamation point: “CATCHER READY!”
Then Eli and I watched as each of our teens courageously left the platform en route for our side of the ravine. We saw the rain water spray off of the now tense cable as they traveled over a 100 yard ravine 100 feet in the air. Zip after zip, person after person, for two cold wet hours, Eli and I caught people and pulled them in from the ravine. It was better than any zip line I have done before because of the people, because of the setting, because of the rain, and because it was the Sabbath of Return.
Here is my epiphany:
Life hangs in the balance by a rope,
a secure knot and a ‘catcher’,
a person who is willing to take responsibility.
Eli and I, and you, stand in a long line of catchers, people who are willing to take responsibility when life hangs in the balance. People who are willing to yell out across the ravine of life, “CATCHER READY!”
Moses taught us how to yell “CATCHER READY!”. On a day close to the end of his journey some 3,200 years ago, he gathered all of Israel together in order to say to us, “Atem Nitzavim – Yinz are standing together” in sacred covenant at a place called Sinai. He understood that when life hangs in the balance we need community to support us. We learn that at a place called Sinai. He also understood that community does not exist except when every individual takes personal responsibility. Unlike his opening statement “Yinz” he continues to say “U’vacharta b’chayim – You, second person singular, a single soul, you must choose life.” [i] Moses understood that when you give blanket responsibility to a whole group without identifying individual responsibilities, nothing seems to happen.
I know that Moses never heard the story I am about to tell you, but I think it would have resonated with him: There are four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Let me be straight with you. If Eli or I considered ourselves to be everybody, somebody, anybody or nobody, we might have lost a teen in the ravine. As it was in that ravine, so it is in all the places we find ourselves. What about you, are you willing to go through life as everybody, somebody, anybody or nobody. Or are you going to choose life?
Life hangs in the balance by a string,
a secure knot and a ‘catcher’,
a person who is willing to take responsibility.
Isaiah yelled out “CATCHER READY!” some 2,800 years ago. Jerusalem was cloaked in darkness, Neighbor oppressed neighbor, the young taunted the elderly, and the wealthy mocked the widowed and the orphaned. He looked up from the night and saw God seated on a high and regal throne, dressed in billowing robes that filled the Temple with light. Seraphim, six-winged angels, stood in attendance, calling to one another, “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh. Holy, holy, holy is Adonai of hosts. The whole earth is full of God’s glory.” Awed and humbled, Isaiah confessed that he had sinned and lived among a people who have sinned. Using a pair of tongs, one of the seraphim scooped up a red-hot coal from the Temple’s great altar. He brushed it lightly over Isaiah’s lips and declared, “Your guilt is gone and your sins forgiven.” “Who will I send? Who will accept My mission?” asked God. And Isaiah answered with all his heart and soul, “Hineni. Here I am. Send me!”[ii] A loose translation of Hineni: “CATCHER READY!”
That which was true in Isaiah’s day is true in our own day. That which was true in Jerusalem is true in Pittsburgh. You know that I believe there are two Pittsburghs. Just as there is a Jerusalem on high and a lower Jerusalem, so is there a Pittsburgh on high, the dream of how Pittsburgh should be, and a lower Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh as it is today.
A year ago today I stood in front of you on behalf of the Tikkun Olam Center for Jewish Social Justice and launched our Just Congregations project. We listened to each other for 6 months. We contemplated what we heard. Then you voted that Temple Sinai should focus its energy on four specific issues.
Temple Sinai voted that every Jewish senior citizen in Pittsburgh who needs nursing home care should be afforded the best care that the Jewish community can provide. That is why our Elder Care Task Force is working in partnership with the highest levels of leadership of the Jewish Association on Aging, the Charles Morris Nursing Home, to improve care for our seniors. Speak with Task Force Chair Louise Mayo to get involved.
Temple Sinai voted that the path to sustainable energy must be responsible to our health, to our environment and to our local economy. That is why our Environmental Task Force is researching the issues surrounding drilling and fracking in Marcellus Shale, partnering with other organizations who specialize in this work and visiting a drilling location tomorrow. Speak with Task Force Chair Zelda Curtiss to get involved.
Temple Sinai voted that every child in the Pittsburgh Public Schools deserves an outstanding education no matter his race nor her family composition. That is why our Education Task Force is working in partnership with the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network, PIIN, to engage the leadership of our schools in meaningful conversations about excellence in the classrooms and adult support at home. Speak with Task Force Chair Mimi Botkin to get involved.
Temple Sinai voted that every person in Pittsburgh, from poorest to wealthiest deserves affordable and reliable public transportation. That is why our Transportation Task Force is working with PIIN to ensure that the system works for everybody because we know that vibrant economic communities die without vibrant transportation systems. Speak with Task Force Chairs Tom and Marcy Morton to get involved.
We are Isaiah. God called and so many of us here at Sinai have answered “Hineni – Catcher Ready!” That call continues this afternoon, with updates from each of our task forces during the beit midrash this afternoon. That call continues on Thursday, November 3 at 7 PM at Rodef Shalom when PIIN will gather 1,000 strong because we are better together for our annual public meeting to raise up issues of concern within and between our interfaith network, to hold our public officials accountable for Gun Violence, Public Education, Sustainable Jobs, Public Transportation and Civil Rights for Immigrants. I expect each of you to be there and to bring a friend.
Life hangs in the balance by a string,
a secure knot and a ‘catcher’,
a person who is willing to take responsibility.
Dr. Martin Luther King and the recently deceased Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth yelled out “CATCHER READY!”. By April of 1963, it was not good to be Black in Birmingham, Alabama. In the spring of 1962, city parks and public golf courses had been closed to prevent desegregation and the black community had attempted to protest racial activities by boycotting selected Birmingham merchants. In response, food that was appropriated for needy families had been cut by the city commissioners. City elections and demonstrations against segregation further separated the city racially for a year and produced a population that was both angry and afraid.
While sitting in jail during his 9 day sentence, Dr. King wrote:
“My Dear Fellow Clergymen,…I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century… left their villages and carried their “thus saith the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, … so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town….Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.”[iii]
King lived the words of the prophets in his own day and continues to inspire so many of us to be on a pilgrimage of non-violent change. “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” I have learned how to wear that garment proudly since last Yom Kippur working with a dedicated core team of pastors and others committed to ensuring that the Pittsburgh Police Department reflects the colors of our city.
The African American community of Pittsburgh makes up around 30% of our total population. How is it possible then that in the current class of police cadets numbering thirty-nine, only one is African American. One out of thirty-nine in a city that is 30% African American. This is a recipe for lack of trust between the residents of Pittsburgh and the police. Even if the numbers do not impact your neighborhood, we are all tied in a single garment of destiny.
That is why this core group of 5 have been in conversation with Mayor Ravenstahl and his staff, Chief Harper and his staff since last Yom Kippur. Let me be clear, when we sit with the Mayor and the Chief we are not talking about quotas. We are talking about a representative police force that is the foundation stone of trust.
We have three successes to report. First, the Mayor has agreed to increase the number of people on the oral review board who select the cadets. It is currently composed of three officers. As of January 2012, it will have a fourth person on it. That person will be a PIIN clergy person or member of our congregations trained in the police selection procedures aware of the realities of our city. The hope is that the selection process will become as transparent as possible and free of bias on behalf of any demographic group. There will be a pool of thirty-five people from our congregations who will be trained to serve on the review board. You are welcome speak with me about your own participation.
Second, the Mayor and the Chief have agreed to fund diversity training for police officers beginning in January 2012. This training will include measurable benchmarks and annual refresher courses for every officer. It is our hope, no matter what you think actually happened on January 12, 2010 between Jordan Miles and the three police offers, that police and citizens will trust each other enough so that incidents of this sort will not happen again in our city.
Third, understanding that standardized testing requires specialized training, and that standardized tests are written with the white middle to upper class in mind, the Mayor’s office has agreed to work with us and the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) to provide affordable training for the public service entrance exams. The training will happen in the basements of churches in the neighborhoods where the potential cadets live making success possible for all who will invest. We will raise up a generation of qualified and well-trained police officers that reflects the demographics of Pittsburgh.
I am so proud of these wins and so humbled to sit with my brothers and sisters, blacks and whites, Christians, Unitarians, Quakers and Moslems, to sit with Mayor Ravenstahl and Chief Harper, in order to repair the fabric of our city. Our attention is now turning to illegal gun violence. Find out more this afternoon at the beit midrash.
.Life hangs in the balance by a string,
a secure knot and a ‘catcher’,
a person who is willing to take responsibility.
A person who is willing to yell, “CATCHER READY!”
This message is not new to us neither as Jews nor as Reform Jews. We wear it every day. Our own Rabbi David Saperstein of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center in Washington D.C., teaches us:
“The core of our insight [as Reform Jews] is that serious Jewish study inevitably leads to the soup kitchen; that serious prayer, among other vital things, is a way of preparing to do battle with injustice, that social justice without being grounded in text, without a sense of God’s presence, is ephemeral and unsustainable. The heart of the argument is that there is no such thing as ‘Social Action Judaism,’ that the thread of social justice is so authentically and intricately woven into the many-colored fabric we call Judaism that if you seek to pull that thread out, the entire fabric unravels….”[iv]
It is a lesson that I am proud to be teaching our 30 7th grade students who are engaged before, during and after Bar/Bat Mitzvah in our Tikkun Olam: World Repair Symposium. I am proud to teach that message to people of all ages.
Life hangs in the balance by a string,
a SACRED knot and a ‘catcher’,
a person who is willing to take responsibility.
A person who is willing to yell, “CATCHER READY!”.
It is not about a zip line.
The string and the sacred knot have been with us for thousands of years. It is a fringe, a tzitzit on the tallit of Jewish living. Whether you think it is antiquated or not, whether you think it is too Orthodox or not, whether you wear it or not.. it just doesn’t matter. It is our symbolic fabric and string.
The whole reason for the fringe is to remind us to avoid lustful selfishness and do God’s will, mitzvot, sacred responsibilities.[v] Its sacred macramé, is a sublime message that we live our lives through sacred responsibility. There are 613 mitzvot in the strings and the knots in the fabric of our Torah-filled life.[vi] Our lives are twisted around the belief that we are all children of the One God.[vii]
To be a Jew is to be willing to yell across the ravine, “CATCHER READY!”
It never did stop raining last Shabbat. We went back to the CIT cabin, warmed ourselves around a fire and opened up the scroll to this morning’s portion, “You all are standing here today in sacred covenant….” In the midst of our conversation about sacred responsibility
as I handed out the mitzvah menu to the teens so that they can do their part in our Year of 613 Mitzvot, 7th Grader Kate Kander commented, “The problem is that people make promises to fix the world but they don’t live up to their responsibilities.”
Kate, that is exactly the problem. When someone asks the question, “CATCHER READY?”, We need more people who are willing to yell back, “CATCHER READY!” How about you? Let’s try it. I’ll ask the question and you answer: “CATCHER READY?” (“CATCHER READY!”)
